Brown, Flynn draw No. 1 section seeds

Kelseyville High School sophomore Juliette Brown is the No. 1 seed at 101 pounds going into this weekend's North Coast Section Girls' Wrestling Championships at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg. Brown won a fifth-place medal as a freshman at last year's sectional tournament. She is one of two Lake County girls to draw a No. 1 seed. (trett-bishop-photo.smugmug.com)

LAKE COUNTY -- Lake County will be sending six seeded girls' wrestlers, including two No. 1 seeds, to the North Coast Section Championships on Friday and Saturday at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg.

Of the dozen Lake County girls expected to compete in the sectional tournament, which is the qualifier for the CIF State Championships on Feb. 28 and March 1 in Visalia, half are seeded in their respective weight classes, including No. 1 seeds Juliette Brown (23-3), a sophomore at Kelseyville High School competing in the 101-pound class, and Jessie Flynn (25-3), a senior at Middletown High School competing in the 189-pound class.

The top three finishers in each weight class at the sectionals automatically qualify for the girls' state championships at the Visalia Convention Center.

"I'm very happy," Kelseyville coach Rob Brown said of having four of his five section-bound wrestlers seeded. "They work hard."

Having a No. 1 seed, especially when that No. 1 seed is your daughter, is also a bit nerve-wracking, according to Brown.

"That's a high expectation, but when she's on her game, look out," Brown added of Juliette.

"We are really looking forward to next weekend," Middletown coach Brian Hunt said of the sectional tournament. "Jessie has been wrestling well all year and we feel she's getting close to the top of her game. A top finish at NCS should put her in a great spot for the state tournament."

Added Hunt, "Kailei is also in a pretty good spot in the bracket. She's got a tough weight class, but she has been really putting it together the last few weeks."

"Meese is actually in a decent spot in her bracket," Hunt said. "She wrestled one of the best matches I've seen out of her last weekend and might surprise some people next weekend."

While Hunt is certainly optimistic about the chances of his own wrestlers, he also likes Kelseyville's chances at the sectionals.

"The Kelseyville girls look primed to bring home a lot of hardware from NCS," he said. "Brown's the No. 1 seed and if she can wrestle like she did last year at NCS (Brown won a fifth-place medal), she should have a great weekend.

"Faith and Chariss are both in good spots in the brackets. Evelyn Santiago is one that I really see surprising people in that bracket. That bracket is even top to bottom and if she brings her 'A' game, she should be able to bust the bracket."

You won't get an argument from Brown on the chances of seeded wrestlers Kaestner, Rodriguez and Santiago and the unseeded Boyd.

"Boyd, she could upset a few people," Brown said. "Faith and Chariss have been wrestling real tough and confident this season, so I wouldn't be surprised to see either of them advance to state."